Tax policy directorate – Bureau a

I – TAXATION IN RELATION TO OTHER MANDATORY LEVIES 
Mandatory levies include taxes, fees for services rendered, customs duties and social security 
contributions. 
Taxes are payments imposed on individuals and legal entities according to their ability to pay without 
any specific consideration in return in order to cover public spending and achieve the economic and 
social objectives set by the government. 
Fees for services rendered, payable for the use of certain public services or for the right to use them, 
are also mandatory levies but are not strictly speaking taxes since they entitle the payer to a 
consideration in return. 
Customs duties are distinguished from taxes by their economic purpose, namely to protect the domestic 
market. 
Social security contributions, though mandatory, are not taxes since they are levied for a specific 
purpose, namely social protection, and benefits are paid in return.
II – TAXATION IN FRENCH LAW 
The need for taxation is asserted in Article 13 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen 
of 26 August 1789: “For the maintenance of the public force, and for administrative expenses, a 
general tax is indispensable”, adding that “it must be equally distributed among all citizens, in 
proportion to their ability to pay”. Article 14 of the Declaration states that “All citizens have the right to 
ascertain, by themselves or through their representatives, the need for a public tax, to consent to it 
freely, to watch over its use, and to determine its proportion, basis, collection and duration”. 
Unlike other mandatory levies, taxes may be assessed and collected only by virtue of an act of the 
legislature, i.e. Parliament. 
This principle is enshrined in Article 34 of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic of 4 October 1958, 
according to which rules concerning the base, rates and methods of collection of taxes of all types are 
set by statute. The executive is therefore involved only in implementing the tax rules defined by 
Parliament, stipulating the terms and conditions of their application under the control of the tax courts. 
Consequently, the tax administration interprets and comments on legal provisions in circulars that must 
neither add to nor subtract from the law. Otherwise the circular is unlawful and may be nullified by the 
French Supreme Administrative Court (Conseil d'État) on an appeal from taxpayers. If that is the case, 
the unlawful circular is not binding on taxpayers. Conversely, the administration may not argue that a 
circular was unlawful against a taxpayer who has applied it. This guarantee also applies where the 
administration has issued a formal ruling on the assessment of a given situation with regard to a tax 
rule. Thus, tax law provides that where a taxpayer has applied a tax rule according to the interpretation 
given by the administration through published instructions or circulars and not retracted at the date of 
the relevant operations, the administration may not order additional payments on the grounds of some 
other interpretation. 
In addition, under Article 53 of the aforementioned Constitution, treaties that commit government 
finances or modify provisions which are the preserve of statute law may be ratified or approved only by 

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an Act of Parliament. Article 55 of the Constitution states that duly ratified or approved treaties or 
agreements prevail, upon publication, over Acts of Parliament, provided that the other party has 
applied the treaty or agreement concerned. This means that domestic tax law is subordinate to 
provisions of international treaties or agreements. Under Article 54 of the Constitution, if the 
Constitutional Council (Conseil constitutionnel) has declared that an international commitment contains 
a clause contrary to the Constitution, authorisation to ratify or approve it may be given only after the 
Constitution has been amended. 
* * 
* 
This handbook describes the main taxes levied in France, distinguishing four categories: 
• 
taxes on income 
• 
taxes on expenditure 
• 
taxes on assets 
• 
direct local taxes 
This handbook merely describes the rules laid down in domestic French law. More detailed information 
may be found on the portal of the Ministry for the Economy and Finance (http://www.impots.gouv.fr), 
which has been designed to allow non-residents to obtain information that concerns them. 
The Public Finances Directorate General provides the general public with all documents containing an 
administrative interpretation of tax rules in a single, free-of-charge official tax bulletin (BOFIP-Impôts, 
available from the website of the Ministry for the Economy and Finance).
These documents are also available on the Ministry’s website (
http://www.impots.gouv.fr/portail
). 
Bilateral tax treaties for the avoidance of double taxation between France and other countries may 
depart from these rules, which apply only subject to the provisions of such treaties. 
A list of tax treaties is appended. 
The text of the treaties may be obtained from the Direction des Journaux Officiels, 26, rue Desaix, 
75727 Paris Cedex 15 or consulted on the Ministry’s website (
http://www.impots.gouv.fr/portail
). 

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